Androgen Receptor and the Prostate in health and Disease

This review will focus on Androgen receptor and its role in different prostatic disease conditions helping in prediction, prevention, and finding recent treatment modalities.Androgen receptor (AR) is ligand activated transcription factor which is responsible for androgen responsiveness of target cells, it is play a role in development of prostate and localize in cytoplasm of stromal and secretory epithelial cells. AR enter nucleus and activate target genes involving diverse biological process such as proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and secretion.There are many co-factors which modulate receptor activity either co-activator or co-repressor.Benign prostatic hyperplasia is a condition affecting large percentage of elderly men, its risk factor is age and androgen system. The pathophysiological mechanism by which androgen influence the development of hyperplasia in aging mal not clear but AR gene variation (polymorphism) may affect activity of androgen lead to hyperplasia.Prostate cancer is the most common non dermatological cancer in men, its cause remain poorly understood, many gene product show deregulated function, Activotion of multiple developmental signaling cascade in AR with down regulation of several apoptotic signaling cascade combind with enhance expression of antiapoptotic factors.